SAUNDERS: Previously unchallenged, Harris had to answer to ‘60 Minutes’

WASHINGTON

Asking Kamala Harris about the historic surge at the southern border during most of President Joe Biden’s tenure, “60 Minutes” anchor Bill Whitaker wondered if it was “a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as you did.”

Harris has this way of talking when she knows she can’t say what she really thinks. So when Whitaker remarked that border arrivals quadrupled during the first three years of the Biden/Harris administration, she responded, “Solutions are at hand. From day one literally we have been offering solutions.”

And: “The policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem.” Short word salads with no nutritional value.

If you were hoping for the vice president to admit that Biden’s border policies were a colossal blunder during the CBS interview, which was televised Monday night, well, your best move would have been to change the channel.

When Harris tried to blame Republicans for failing to pass a big immigration package, Whitaker pointed out that Biden invited a “historic flood” of migrants when he took office.

For once, a major journalist pushed back on Harris’ lame finger pointing. I exhaled.

“60 Minutes” made a big deal about Trump turning down its interview request. Be it noted, Harris turned down an invitation to a Fox News sit-down. But I guess that’s different.

My one big beef: There is no question Harris knew about Biden’s declining cognitive abilities before he halted his re-election campaign. It becomes ever more important that Harris is asked about this because Biden is supposed to occupy the Oval Office until Jan. 20.

At one point, Harris reminded Whitaker: “This is an election for president of the United States.” Then she added, “No one should be able to take for granted that they can just declare themselves a candidate and automatically receive support.”

It was an odd statement coming from a Democrat who was handed the top of her party’s ticket without a single ballot cast.

When Whitaker asked Harris why she completely flipped her positions on the border, fracking and Medicare for All, Harris responded that she has spent the past four years going across the country and talking to people from various backgrounds, so she came to value compromise. Short, truer version: “We’re not just in California any more.”

Politically, that’s a good thing.

Yet when Whitaker asked Harris how she accounted for the fact that millions of Americans support Trump, whom she calls a racist, Harris had no answer, only talking points.

“I believe that the people of America want a leader who’s not trying to divide us and demean. I believe that the American people recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up,” she said.

Across America, eyeballs rolled.

The “60 Minutes” segment included a cameo appearance by Liz Cheney, who actually spoke at a Harris/Walz rally. Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, are part of the Republicans for Harris movement. That makes Cheney the latest winner in the race for irrelevancy.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect Republicans who won’t vote for Trump because of his election denial that led to Jan. 6. I just wish they understood that their vote isn’t about their rectitude — it’s about who the next president will be. It’s about the country.

So when a Cheney argues Trump does not represent the family’s conservative values, that just tells the base the Cheneys are willing to sabotage the very platforms they used to hold dear. I’m thinking about free speech, a tough border and truly fair tax policies.

It’s impossible to watch the Cheneys and not suspect that they climbed aboard the Kamala train because thought they owned the GOP and they’ll never forgive Trump voters or proving them wrong. Team Trump must love her.

A previous version of this column misidentified the Republicans for Harris movement and author Lynne Cheney’s role with the group.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com.Follow @debrajsaunders on X.